Selection ring user interface

ABSTRACT

A fluid timeline social network is provided herein. The fluid timeline social network includes a story database, an image database and a fluid timeline social network application, hosted at least partially on a server computer including a processor and a computer-readable storage medium. The fluid timeline social network application is configured to receive from a user computer device a created story, the created story including at least one of textual information and image information; receive from the user computer device a user-specified date to be associated with the created story; associate the created story with the user-specified date; associate the created story with an actual time and date that the created story is received by the fluid timeline social network application; and provide the story to the story database for storage.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present application pertains to social media networks, and moreparticularly to a fluid timeline, time-based social network that ordersposted content based on the time it was posted as well as auser-specified date to be associated with the content.

Description of the Related Art

Social media networks have been around for many years and they are verypopular. Some social media networks have millions, tens of millions, andeven hundreds of millions of daily users. Many social media networks,such as FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, and the like, allow users togenerate content, which may then be posted or otherwise provided to auser's network of friends, followers, and others.

The user-generated content is typically displayed to users as part of a“wall” or “feed” of posted content. Users scroll through the feedbackward in time starting from the current time. That is, the mostrecently posted content from within any particular user's network isgenerally displayed at the top of the wall or feed, while the oldestcontent is not displayed at all. To reach the older and oldest content,the user has to scroll through a large amount of intervening content,which has also been posted at some particular time in the past.

Further, content posted in conventional social media networks isdisplayed solely as of the time and date that the content was posted.Thus, content of a particular user's feed is only be displayed as of thetime and date that the content was posted.

All of the subject matter discussed in the Background section is notnecessarily prior art and should not be assumed to be prior art merelyas a result of its discussion in the Background section. Along theselines, any recognition of problems in the prior art discussed in theBackground section or associated with such subject matter should not betreated as prior art unless expressly stated to be prior art. Instead,the discussion of any subject matter in the Background section should betreated as part of the inventor's approach to the particular problem,which in and of itself may also be inventive.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The use of conventional social networks and methodologies to developsocial network architectures has led to the discovery of a significantdrawback with the conventional approach. The user experience provided byconventional social networks heretofore been an iterative andinefficient process. Each portion of user-generated content is stored bythe date it is uploaded to the social network, and the ability to findor re-find previously stored content is monotonous, inefficient, and insome cases impossible. Even when a social networking user knows thatcertain content is stored in the social network's server architecture,it is often very difficult to search or scroll through other content tolocate the material of interest.

The present disclosure, in part, addresses a desire for a moreintuitive, user-friendly time-based social network application. Moreparticularly, the present disclosure provides a time-based social medianetwork architecture that allows users to post “stories” (e.g., image,video, text, other such objects or information) that will be presented(e.g., played, displayed, read, tactually delivered, or presented inother ways) to one or more users at any desired time (e.g., a time inthe present, past, or future). Users, via a computing device (e.g.,smartphone, tablet, laptop, wearable computing device, desktop computingdevice, kiosk, etc.), are exposed to a story “feed” that may includesome or all of the particular user's own posted stories, as well asstories posted by other users within the particular user's network(e.g., friends). Each feed is arranged in at least two ways.

In a first “browsing mode,” for example, users may scroll horizontallyto view time periods of interest, with each time period (e.g., days,weeks, months, years, etc.) represented along a horizontal timeline. Assuch, users may quickly and efficiently scroll to a particular timeperiod. Then, the user may select that time period to enter the second“reading mode” to view or otherwise access all of the stories within theuser's feed that are associated with that time period.

In the second reading mode, once a time period has been selected, theuser's feed presents all of the stories within that particular timeperiod along a vertically-arranged timeline. In some embodiments, themost recently created stories are displayed toward one end of thevertical timeline (e.g., the top end), while the oldest stories aredisplayed toward the other end of the vertical timeline (e.g., thebottom end). In other embodiments, the vertical ordering is arrangedaccording to a different parameter such as proximity to a particulargeographic location, topical subject matter (e.g., food, travel, sports,items for sale, or any other such topic), or some other parameter.

When users create a story within the fluid timeline social network, theuser may assign any past date, present date, or future date to thatstory. Based on the user-specified date, the story will appear in theuser's feed, as well as the feed of any other user having access to theparticular story, as having occurred or expecting to occur at the date,time, or date and time specified by the user.

In a first embodiment, a method organizes a time-based social network ina computing server architecture. The computing server architecture hasone or more processor cores arranged to execute instructions stored inassociated memory, and the instructions are directed by requestsreceived from a plurality of remote computing devices. The methodincludes the acts of receiving a plurality of stories generated by usersof the time-based social network, each story associated with auser-specified date, assigning a different system-wide unique number toeach of the received plurality of stories, and storing each of thereceived plurality of stories in memory and, based on its assignedsystem-wide unique number, associating each of the received plurality ofstories with a user, a time-date stamp, and the user-specified date. Themethod also includes the acts of feeding to a first user remotecomputing device a plurality of stories, the plurality of storiesarranged for presentation based on the user-specified date acceptinginput directions from the first user remote computing device, the inputdirections arranged to request one or more sequenced stories, each ofthe one or more sequenced stories associated with a same selected date,the input directions further arranged to change the selected date to adifferent selected date.

In at least some case of the first embodiment, storing each of thereceived plurality of stories in memory includes further associatingeach of the received plurality of stories with a geographic location,and in at least some cases, storing each of the received plurality ofstories in memory includes further associating each of the receivedplurality of stories with a user-specified topic. In these or in othercases of the first embodiment, storing each of the received plurality ofstories in memory includes further associating each of the receivedplurality of stories with a system-determined topic, and in some cases,the time-date stamp is an actual time and date that the created story isreceived by a determined node of the computing server architecture.

Sometimes, in cases of the first embodiment, the one or more sequencedstories are sequenced based on the time-date stamp and stories that aremore recent in time are fed before stories that are more distant intime, and sometimes, the one or more sequenced stories are sequencedbased on a current reported location of the first user remote computingdevice and stories that are closer in proximity to the current reportedlocation are fed before stories that are further away from the currentreported location.

In at least some cases, acts of the first embodiment also include, basedon a change of the selected date to the different selected date, feedingto the first user remote computing device a second plurality of stories,the second plurality of stories arranged for presentation based on thedifferent selected date. In at least some of the cases that act based ona change of the selected date to the different selected date, the secondplurality of stories includes a second sequence of stories, each of thestories in the second sequence being associated with a differentselected date that is progressively closer to the different selecteddate, and in at least some of these cases, upon sending a first storyassociated with the different selected date, the method includes feedingto the first user remote computing device a third plurality of stories,the third plurality of stories arranged for presentation based on thedifferent selected date, wherein each of the third plurality of storiesis one of a sequence of stories associated with the different selecteddate.

In a second embodiment, a method to interact with a time-based socialnetwork that is arranged to operate in a computing server architectureis disclosed. The method is implemented on a mobile computing devicehaving at least one processor arranged to execute instructions stored ina non-transitory computer readable media associated with the at leastone processor, and the method includes the act of forming acommunicative relationship with the computing server architecture,wherein the computing server architecture is arranged to access adatabase architecture that stores a plurality of stories generated byusers of the time-based social network, each story of the plurality ofstories associated with a user-specified date. The method also includesthe acts of communicating a user-selected date to the computing serverarchitecture, and receiving at the mobile computing device a pluralityof stories, the plurality of stories arranged for horizontally andvertically scrollable presentation based on the user-selected date.

In some cases of the second embodiment, the method includes presentingthe plurality of stories based on the user-selected date such thatstories associated with the user-selected date are vertically presentedin a primary focus area of a display of the mobile computing device andstories not associated with the user-selected date are verticallypresented in one or more secondary focus areas of the display of themobile computing device, and in some of these cases, the method alsoincludes the acts of accepting vertical scrolling information, thevertical scrolling information arranged to request a first sequence ofstories, each story of the first sequence associated with a sameselected date, receiving stories of the first sequence from thecomputing server architecture, and vertically presenting the receivedstories of the requested first sequence in the primary focus area of thedisplay of the mobile computing device.

In some cases of the second embodiment, the method includes acceptinghorizontal scrolling information, the horizontal scrolling informationarranged to request a one or more second sequences of stories, the oneor more second sequences associated with sequentially incrementing datesor sequentially decrementing dates, and horizontally presenting on thedisplay of the mobile computing device a plurality of verticallyarranged columns of stories, each of the vertically arranged columnsassociated with a next sequential date. In some of these cases, thesequentially incrementing dates are sequentially incrementing by monthor by year and wherein each sequential vertically arranged columnincludes stories of a next sequential month or a next sequential year,respectively.

In still some other cases of the second embodiment, the method includespresenting the plurality of stories includes outputting multimediacontent, and sometimes in these cases, the multimedia content includesaudio content and video content. Sometimes, in the second embodiment,the primary focus area is a first vertical column in a central column ofthe display of the mobile computing device, and wherein a left secondaryfocus area is a second vertical column arranged on a first side of thefirst vertical column and wherein a right secondary focus area is athird vertical column arranged on a second side of the first verticalcolumn, the second side opposite the first side.

In another embodiment, a time-based social network architecture includesa story database to store stories generated by users of a time-basedsocial network, an image database to store images provided by users ofthe time-based social network, and a fluid timeline social networkapplication hosted at least partially on a server computer including aprocessor and a computer-readable storage medium. When the fluidtimeline social network application is in operation, the application isconfigured to receive from a user computer device a created story, thecreated story including at least one of textual information and imageinformation, receive from the user computer device a user-specified dateto be associated with the created story, and associate the created storywith the user-specified date. The application is also configured toassociate the created story with an actual time and date that thecreated story is received by the fluid timeline social networkapplication, and provide the story to the story database for storage.

In some cases of this embodiment, the fluid timeline social networkapplication is further configured to receive from the user computerdevice a user-selected date, and provide to the user computer device afirst plurality of stories associated with the user-selected date and asecond plurality of stories associated with a date sequentially later orsequentially earlier than the user-selected date, the first and secondpluralities of stories arranged for horizontally and verticallyscrollable presentation based on the user-selected date.

In at least one embodiment, a social network is provided that includes astory database, an image database and a fluid timeline social networkapplication. The story database is configured to store stories generatedby users of the social network. The image database is configured tostore images provided by users of the social network. The fluid timelinesocial network application is hosted at least partially on a servercomputer including a processor and a computer-readable storage medium,and is configured to: receive from a user computer device a createdstory, the created story including at least one of textual informationand image information, receive from the user computer device auser-specified date to be associated with the created story, associatethe created story with the user-specified date, associate the createdstory with an actual time and date that the created story is received bythe fluid timeline social network application, and provide the story tothe story database for storage.

These features with other objects and advantages, which will becomesubsequently apparent, reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully described hereafter and claimed, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof.

Within the social networking architectures and methods discussed in thepresent disclosure, the social networks are organized as time-based oras having a fluid timeline.

The innovation described in the present disclosure is new and useful,and the innovation is not well-known, routine, or conventional in thesocial networking industry.

The innovation described herein uses known building blocks combined innew and useful ways along with other structures and limitations tocreate something more than has heretofore been conventionally known. Theembodiments improve on computing systems which, when un-programmed ordifferently programmed, cannot perform or provide the specifictime-based social networking features claimed herein.

The embodiments described in the present disclosure improve upon knownsocial networking architectures, structures, processes, and techniques.

The computerized acts described in the embodiments herein are not purelyconventional and are not well understood. Instead, the acts are new tothe industry. Furthermore, the combination of acts as described inconjunction with the present embodiments provides new information,motivation, and business results that are not already present when theacts are considered separately.

There is no prevailing, accepted definition for what constitutes anabstract idea. To the extent the concepts discussed in the presentdisclosure may be considered abstract, the claims present tangible,practical, and concrete applications of said allegedly abstractconcepts.

The embodiments described herein use computerized technology to improvethe technology of social networks, but other techniques and tools remainavailable to develop, implement, and operate social networks. Therefore,the claimed subject matter does not foreclose the whole or evensubstantial social networking technological area.

These features with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully described hereafter and claimed, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof.

This Brief Summary has been provided to introduce certain concepts in asimplified form that are further described in detail below in theDetailed Description. The Brief Summary presented here is not intendedto identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, noris it intended to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments are described with referenceto the following drawings, wherein like labels refer to like partsthroughout the various views unless otherwise specified. The sizes andrelative positions of elements in the drawings are not necessarily drawnto scale. For example, the shapes of various elements are selected,enlarged, and positioned to improve drawing legibility. The particularshapes of the elements as drawn have been selected for ease ofrecognition in the drawings. One or more embodiments are describedhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a fluid timeline social networksystem, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 includes FIGS. 2A and 2B;

FIG. 2A illustrates a graphical user interface view of a browsing modefor interacting with a user's fluid timeline social network feed, inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2B illustrates a graphical user interface view of a reading modefor interacting with a user's fluid timeline social network feed, inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 includes FIGS. 3A to 3H;

FIGS. 3A-3H are a plurality of exemplary user interface “screen shots”of a user's computer device according to embodiments described in thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a fluid timeline social networksystem;

FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment of a fluid timeline social networksystem;

FIG. 6 illustrates yet one more embodiment of a fluid timeline socialnetwork system;

FIG. 7 illustrates a method to organize a time-based social network in acomputing server architecture; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a method to interact with a time-based social networkthat is arranged to operate in a computing server architecture using amobile computing device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, certain specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of various disclosedembodiments. However, one skilled in the relevant art will recognizethat embodiments may be practiced without one or more of these specificdetails, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In otherinstances, well-known structures associated with computing systemsincluding client and server computing systems, as well as networks havenot been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuringdescriptions of the embodiments.

Prior to setting forth the embodiments however, it may be helpful to anunderstanding thereof to first set forth definitions of certain termsthat are used hereinafter.

In the present disclosure, a “story” is a computer based object thatincludes one or many storage elements organized in a consistent way suchthe each story may be individually recognized. In one non-limitingembodiment, a story includes at least one multimedia portion, a time anddate stamp associated with acceptance of the multimedia object into thetime-based social network (e.g., at a determined node, circuit, module,or the like), and user-selected time information associated with apresentation of the story. The multimedia portion may optionally includeany one or more of a photo, a video, an audio clip, text, a digitizedblock of memory that represents tactile information, a digitized blockof memory that represents smell or other olfactory information, adigitized block of memory that represents electronically collectedemotional, brain signal, or other physiological information, and anyother like information. Stories may include, for example, an image or avideo captured by a user of a smartphone or wearable device having anassociated camera, and additionally or alternatively, the stories mayinclude a text description describing an aspect of the image or video,or the story may be a purely text-based story.

In some cases, stories include additional information such asgeographical information associated with the content of the story,geographical information associated with the user that is posting thestory, topical information associated with the content of the story, andany other such information provided by a user or by the time-basedsocial network and permitted by the time-based social network.

A story in many cases is arranged as a collection of data (e.g.,information) stored in a transitory or non-transitory computer readablemedium. The data of a story may be stored in a single location, or thedata of a story may be distributed and stored in a plurality oflocations. The data of a story may be stored local to a device that hasgenerated the data or that will present the data. In some case, the dataof a story is stored remotely such as in a database that is in whole orin part indexed, searchable, relational, or having other known databasecharacteristics.

Stories, for the sake of example and not limitation, may be associatedwith social aspects of an individual, social aspects of a business,social aspects of another type of organization (e.g., educationalinstitution, government entity, non-profit organization, or any othersuch organization), an item for rent or sale or some other commercialpurpose, a job or some other employment or service offering, a resume,travel, a geographic area of location, or any other like purpose. Manyother types of information have been contemplated for inclusion in thedata of a story, but such information has been omitted for brevity andnot for limitation.

A story may be posted by a user of the time-based social network.Posting includes electronically providing some or all data of the storyto the time-based social network. Posting may also include presentingsome or all of the data of a story or communicating such data to aremote device for presentation. The presentation of one or more storiesmay be via a software application such as a web browser executing on acomputing device (e.g., a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, a wearablecomputing device, a computing device implanted in an human, a desktopcomputing device, a kiosk, a ground-based or airborne vehicle, or anyother such computing device).

A story may be viewed by a user of the time-based social network,wherein viewing a story may include a presentation of the story on adisplay or via an audio device such as a speaker, piezo device, or someother audio device. Viewing a story may also include delivery of thestory's tactile information, olfactory information, physiologicalinformation, or other information.

A fluid timeline social network, which may also be referred to herein asa time-based social network is provided to allow users to view storiescreated by the user, as well as stories created by other users of thesocial network system.

When a user creates a story, the user may assign any time (e.g., time ofday, date, or time of day and date) in the past, in the present, or inthe future to be associated with that story. As such, the story willshow up in the user's time-based social network feed as having occurredor as will occur an the assigned time. For example, a first user maycreate a story by uploading a photo taken years in the past. The firstuser may add descriptive text as part of the story, and the first usermay further associate the created story with the date that the photo wastaken. From this information, the time-based social network will presentthat created story in the first user's feed, as well as the feeds ofother user's associated with the first user (i.e., “friends”), as of thedate the photo was taken, and according to the time of day, date, ortime of day and date assigned by the first user.

In some embodiments, a user feed, which may also be referred to as “awall,” can be presented in the fluid timeline social network in twomodes: a browsing mode, and a reading mode. In the browsing mode, usersare presented with icons or columns of stories arranged along ahorizontal timeline, with each icon or column representing a particularperiod of time (e.g., a day, a week, a month, a year, a period of days,weeks, months, or years, etc.). Users may scroll along the horizontaltimeline (e.g., left and right) and select any particular time period oricon of interest (e.g., a particular day, week, month or year). Once theparticular time period is selected, the fluid timeline social networkfeed is switched to the reading mode. In the reading mode, particularstories that have been associated with that particular time period aredisplayed in a scrollable, vertically-arranged timeline, with each storybeing ordered vertically based on the actual time the story was createdor based on some other criteria such as geographic location, topic,price (e.g., in the case of a marketplace), and the like as opposed tothe time that was assigned to story by the creating user.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a fluid timeline social networksystem 10, which for brevity may be referred to hereinafter as “system10,” in accordance with one or more embodiments of the presentdisclosure. The system 10 includes a computing server 20 that isconfigured with fluid timeline social network software 22 (e.g., one ormore of an application, a website, an operating system, a web server,and the like), a time association module 24 and an application interface26 arranged as part of the social network software 22, a story database32, an image database 34, a marketplace database 36, and any number ofother databases represented by additional database 38. The computingserver 20 includes computing server architecture having processor coresarranged to execute instructions stored in associated memory. Theinstructions executed by the processor cores are directed by requestsreceived from a plurality of remote computing devices 12 a-12 n.

The system 10 may further include one or more user computer devices 12a-12 n, which may access the fluid timeline social network software 22via a first communication network 14 a. User computer devices 12 a-12 ninclude, for example, fixed and mobile computing devices such assmartphones, tablet computers, laptops, wearable computing devices,computing devices implanted in an human, desktop computing devices,kiosks, ground-based or airborne vehicles, or any other such computingdevices. Such computing devices have at least one processor arranged toexecute instructions stored in a non-transitory computer readable mediaassociated with the at least one processor. These electronic circuits(i.e., hardware), and other circuits are expressly arranged in the usercomputer devices 12 a-12 n but not shown for brevity.

The first communication network 14 a may utilize one or more protocolsto communicate via one or more physical networks, including personalnetworks, local area networks, and wide area networks that may implementwireless networks, dedicated lines, intranets, the Internet, and thelike. The user computer devices 12 a-12 n are often but not necessarilycapable of accessing and passing data across the first communicationnetwork 14 a.

In some cases, the user computer devices 12 a-12 n include a userinterface 13 such as a display. The user interface 13 may include atouch screen capable of receiving input from a user that touches thescreen. In some embodiments, the user computer devices 12 a-12 n mayinclude one or more peripheral input devices, such as a keyboard, mouse,touchpad, buttons, and the like, capable of receiving input from a userof the user computer devices 12 a-12 n.

The fluid timeline social network software 22 may be stored, at leastpartially, on transitory or non-transitory computer-readable memorycontained in or otherwise accessible by the computing server 20. Whenone or more processing cores of the computing server 20 execute thefluid timeline social network software 22, the various features andfunctionalities of a time-based social network are provided as describedin further detail herein.

While the fluid timeline social network software 22 is shown in FIG. 1as residing on a single computing server 20 device, it will be readilyappreciated that the fluid timeline social network software 22 may beprovided in a distributed computing environment such that portions ofthe fluid timeline social network software 22 are stored in and/orexecuted by a number of physically separate server computers, eachhaving access to one or more other portions of the fluid timeline socialnetwork software 22, which may be stored in and executed by one or moreother computing server devices.

Additionally, or alternatively, the user computer devices 12 a-12 n mayfurther include a local fluid timeline social network application 15.The local fluid timeline social network application 15 may be, forexample, a downloaded application for local execution, which may providesome or all of the features and functionality of the fluid timelinesocial network software 22 to a user computer device 12 a-12 n. At sometimes, the local fluid timeline social network application 15 of aparticular computer device 12 a-12 n is communicatively coupled to fluidtimeline social network software via the application interface 26. Thus,the local fluid timeline social network application 15 may provide someor all of the features of the system 10 to a user of a user computerdevice 12 a-12 n even when, for example, the user computer device 12a-12 n is not communicating with the fluid timeline social networksoftware 22 via the first communication network 14 a.

A first user of the system 10 may create a story 16 using a usercomputer device 12 a-12 n. The created story 16 is an object created bythe first user of the system 10 for posting and/or for sharing withother users (e.g., friends or other users connected to the first uservia the system 10) of the fluid timeline social network system 10. Thecreated story 16 may be associated with the first user's profile oraccount within the system 10.

Each created story 16 may be associated by the time association module24 with two determined times. First, the time association module 24 mayassociate the created story 16 with a time and date that the createdstory 16 was actually created. Second, the time association module mayassociate the created story 16 with a user-specified time to be assignedto the created story 16. The user-specified time may be a user-specifiedtime of day, a user-specified date, or a user-specified time of day anda user-specified date. In this way, users of the system 10 may specifyany time, past, present, or future, to be assigned to each created story16. As such, the created stories will appear in the users' feeds, whichare time-based feeds within the fluid timeline social network system 10,as of the time specified by the user. Stated differently for ease inunderstanding, a user may create a story at a first particular time anddate, and the user may assign a second particular time to that storythat is months or even years in the past or in the future. In such acase, the story will appear in the user's feed as well as the feeds ofother users having access to the particular user's stories as of thatassigned date that can even be months or years in the past or future.

In this example, the time association module 24 timestamps the createdstory 16 with the actual time and date that the story was created (e.g.,received by the time association module 24). As such, the storiescreated in the system 10 may be catalogued and may be presented based onwhen the stories were actually created as well as at the time that thecreating user assigns to the story.

The user interface 13 of the computer device 12 a-12 n is arranged tocooperate with the fluid timeline social network software 22 via thelocal fluid timeline social network application 15. The cooperation mayinclude creating and posting a story. The user interface 13 may beprovided, for example, as a display of a smartphone. The user interface13 may permit a user to enter text in a description field that isaccessed by the user to enter a textual description of the story thatthe user is creating. The user may create a text-only story, or the usermay enter text describing an image or another multimedia object to beincluded within the story. The user interface 13 may include a varietyof features for use in creating a story, including, for example, alocation tool, a file or image uploading tool, a camera tool, anemoticon tool, a time entry tool, and many other tools.

The location tool of a computer device 12 a-12 n may be fully orpartially arranged with the local fluid timeline social networkapplication 15 and utilized to append geospatial location data (e.g.,address, city, state, latitude/longitude, or the like) to a createdstory. The location tool may, for example, access a global positioningsystem (GPS) device or a mapping module within or otherwise accessibleto the local fluid timeline social network application 15 or the fluidtimeline social network software 22.

A file or image uploading tool may also be fully or partially arrangedwith the local fluid timeline social network application 15. The file orimage uploading tool allows a user of the computer device 12 a-12 n toinsert a file or image already stored on the user computer device 12a-12 n into the story being created. For example, a user may use thefile or image uploading tool to access an image library stored on theuser computer device 12 a-12 n. A selected file or image may then beadded to the story and inserted into an image field.

A camera tool may also be fully or partially arranged with the localfluid timeline social network application 15. A user may access a cameraincluded or associated with the user computer device 12 a-12 n via thelocal fluid timeline social network application 15, and the user maythus take a picture or video, which may then be inserted into the imagefield.

In some embodiments, an emoticon tool may also be fully or partiallyarranged with the local fluid timeline social network application 15.The emoticon tool may be utilized to insert one or more emoticons into adescription field of the created story. Further, a text input tool(e.g., a virtual keyboard displayed on the computer device 12 a-12 n)may be provided via the user interface 13, which allows the user toprovide textual input into a description field.

A time tool may also be fully or partially arranged with the local fluidtimeline social network application 15. The time tool allows a user toprovide a user-specified time to be associated with the created story.The user-specified time may be a user-specified time of day, auser-specified date, or a user-specified time of day. For example, usingthe time tool, a user may specify any past, present, or future date tobe associated with the created story. Then, once the created story hasbeen posted, the story will be inserted into the user's story feed, aswell as any other users' feeds having access to or otherwise includingthe particular user's stories, as having occurred on the past, present,or future time associated with the story.

After the story has been created, the user may post the story utilizinga post story tool, which in some cases is implemented via user click ona single icon presented via that user interface 13. Once the createdstory has been posted, that story may be made available to the user, tothe user's time-based social network friends, or even to all users ofthe system 10 depending on user preferences for the particular createdstory. In some cases, the user interface 13 allows the user to specify alevel of privacy to be associated with each created story (e.g.,“public,” “friends,” “only me,” and so on).

Referring still to FIG. 1, the created story 16 is provided to the fluidtimeline social network software 22 via the first communication network14 a. The fluid timeline social network software 22 accesses the timeassociation module 24 to “timestamp” the created story with the actualtime and date that the story was created and posted. As an example, thetime association module 24 may timestamp the created story 16 utilizinga UNIX timestamp retrieved by a determined node of the computing serverarchitecture. The time association module 24 may further be utilizedduring creation of the story 16, to assign a particular date and/or timeto that story, as described above with respect to the time tool of thecomputer device 12 a-12 n. In this way, when a user specifies a time,date, or time and date for the created story 16, the time tool mayaccess the time association module 24, which associates the createdstory 16 with the specified time.

The time association module 24 provides, for every created story 16 ofsystem 10, an association with two separate timelines. First, the timeassociation module 24 associates a created story 16 with the actual dateand time that the story was created and posted (e.g., the UNIXtimestamp). Second, the time association module 24 associates theuser-provided time data that specifies when the created story 16occurred or will occur (i.e., where the story will be displayed withrespect to a timeline representation of the user feed).

Created stories 16 are provided by the fluid timeline social networkapplication 15 and passed by the fluid timeline social network software22 to the story database 32, the image database 34, the marketplacedatabase 36, or the additional database 38. The created stories 16 arepassed via the second communication network 14 b. The secondcommunication network 14 b may utilize one or more protocols tocommunicate via one or more networks along the lines of the firstcommunication network 14 a. In some cases, the first communicationnetwork 14 a and the second communication network 14 b are the samecommunication network.

Created stories 16 may be stored, in whole or in part, in story database32. Story database 32 may be any database, and may be, for example, aDYNAMODB hosted, provided or maintained by AMAZON WEB SERVICES (AWS).Further, the story database 32 may be a distributed database, residingon more than one physical storage medium accessible by the fluidtimeline social network software 22. The created stories 16 may includethe user-specified and user-directed time associations (e.g., time ofcreation, and user-assigned time for the story), which may be providedby the time association module 24 when the stories are created.

Every story stored in story database 32 may be stored in a main table instory database 32 with associated time-based accessors (e.g., pointers,references, etc.) which order the stories in two directions (e.g.,forward in time and backward in time). These accessors allow the storiesto be displayed, and scrolled through, along a horizontal timeline andalong a vertical timeline.

Image database 34 may store images or other multimedia that are includedas part of the created stories 16, which are created by users of thesystem 10. That is, image database 34 may store actual image filesuploaded by users of system 10 as part of created stories 16. In such acase, story database 32 may store text descriptions of the story, aswell as any other details associated with the story (e.g., usercomments, likes/dislikes, location information, emoticons, etc.). Theimage database 34 may further store one or more links to a location ofthe image database 34 to retrieving the image or other multimediaassociated with the particular story. Thus, when a user accesses a storyfeed via a user computer device 12 a-12 n, the local fluid timelinesocial network application 15 and the fluid timeline social networksoftware 22 may retrieve the story stored in the story database 32. Theimage or other multimedia associated with that story, for example basedon a link contained within the story in the story database 32, may beretrieved directly from the image database 34 for inclusion in the storywhen it is presented on the user computer device 12 a-12 n.

Image database 34 may be, for example, a database provided by a contentdelivery network, such as AMAZON S3 (AMAZON SIMPLE STORAGE SERVICE).Moreover, image database 34 may be a distributed database, residing onmore than one physical storage medium accessible by the fluid timelinesocial network software 22.

FIG. 2 includes a portion of a computer device 12, which is along thelines of computer devices 12 a-n. In FIG. 2, the user interface 13includes a display on which is presented content of a fluid timelinesocial network. FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate different graphical userinterface views of a user's fluid timeline social network feed. Thefluid timeline social network feed is provided by cooperation of thelocal fluid timeline social network application 15 and the fluidtimeline social network software 22. FIG. 3A illustrates a “browsing”mode, and FIG. 3B illustrates a “reading” mode.

As shown in FIG. 2A, in the browsing mode, a user may view, via the userinterface 13 display of a user computer device 12 a, their story feedalong a horizontally-arranged timeline. The feed is shown in FIG. 2A asa daily feed; however, it will be readily appreciated that the feed maybe displayed, for example, in weekly, monthly, yearly or other suchincrements of time (i.e., a selected time period). In the browsing mode,the user may scroll horizontally in either the left or right direction.The scrolling may be implemented, for example, by utilizing a fingerswipe on a touchscreen of a smartphone, a mouse, arrows, or any othersuch input mechanism. In this way, a desired time period may behighlighted or otherwise brought to the center of the displayed feed.

As shown in FIG. 2A, an icon representing stories associated with today300 may be highlighted. In such a case, the icons representing thestories associated with tomorrow 310, two days from today 320, threedays from today 330, and four days from today 340 may be sequentiallydisplayed in order to the right of the icon for today 300. Similarly,icons representing the stories associated with yesterday 290, two daysago 280, three days ago 270, and four days ago 260 may be displayedsequentially to the left of the icon for today 300.

In the representation of FIG. 2A, the time period represents a singleday, but in other embodiments, different time periods (e.g., by hour, byweek, by month, by year, by decade, by century, by millennia, and thelike) may be selected by a user. Also in the representation of FIG. 2A,various icons are illustrated to represent each time period, whichrepresentation facilitates understanding of the horizontally scrollablepresentation based on the user-selected time period. In someembodiments, rather than an “icon,” a vertical column of storiesassociated with each time period may be presented. In cases such asthis, the horizontal scrolling includes horizontally scrolling aplurality of columns of user stories wherein each column is associatedwith a different time period.

In FIG. 2A, each created story 16 is thus associated with a browsingmode time period, such as a date. The time period is specified by theuser when the user generates the created story 16, though in someembodiments, the time period for any particular story may be edited.Accordingly, the created story 16 will be provided in the user's feedand in certain other users' feeds in the browsing mode as of thetime-period specified by the creating user.

In an exemplary embodiment provided to help clarify the subject matter,a user creates a story at 8:00 am Pacific Standard Time on May 10, 2016.The user specifies a date of Jan. 17, 2013 using, for example, a timetool of the local fluid timeline social network application 15. Thespecified data of Jan. 17, 2013 is associated with that story. After thecreated story is posted, the created story will appear in the user'sfeed, as well as in the feeds of other users within the user's network(e.g., friends), as having occurred on Jan. 17, 2013.

In addition to the user-specified time period, each created story 16 isassociated with a time and date of creation. The time and date ofcreation may be an actual time and date the story was created, a timestamp associated with when the story is received by a determined node orcircuit of the fluid timeline social network software 22, or some othertime and date.

FIG. 2B illustrates a graphical user interface view of a reading modefor interacting with a user's fluid timeline social network feed, inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. Asshown in FIG. 2B, in the reading mode, a user may view, via a display ofuser interface 13 of a user computer device 12 a, a story feed along avertically-arranged timeline. The user may switch from the browsing modeto the reading mode, for example, by first scrolling horizontallythrough the browsing mode and by then identifying a particular day,week, month, year, or other time period of interest. When the desiredtime period is identified, the user may enter the reading mode simply byscrolling vertically.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2A, the user has a desire to access thestories in a feed of “Today” 300. The user may then select the time ofinterest (e.g., Today 300), for example, stopping the horizontalscrolling when Today 300 is in a primary focus area, which is a firstvertical column in a central column of the user interface 13 display ofthe computer device 12 a. The user may stop the horizontal scrolling bytapping a touchscreen, clicking a mouse, or the like. Once selected, theuser may then view then feed using the reading mode, as shown in FIG.2B.

In FIG. 2B, a primary focus area shows a first vertical column in acentral column of the user interface 13 display of the computer device12 a. A left secondary focus area is a second vertical column arrangedon a first side (e.g., a left side) of the first vertical column, and aright secondary focus area is a third vertical column arranged on asecond side (e.g., a right side) of the first vertical column. Thesecond side is opposite the first side.

In the reading mode, all of the stories in the user's feed (i.e., allstories associated with the user, including, for example, storiescreated by the user, stories created by the user's friends, storiescreated by users that the user is following, etc.) that were associatedwith that particular period of time (e.g., Today 300) are provided in avertically scrollable feed.

In some cases, the stories are arranged in the reading mode inchronological order, based on the actual time and date that the storieswere created (e.g., as may be determined from the timestamp informationappended to each created story). Thus, in the example of FIG. 2B, thefirst story 301 to be displayed in the user's reading mode feed may bethe most recently created story having a user-specified date matchingthe date of the reading mode view (e.g., Today 300). The second story302 is the second most recently created story, and the third story 303is the third most recently created story. By scrolling verticallyscrolling downward, the user may be provided with additional storiesassociated with the relevant reading mode date (e.g., Today 300). As theuser scrolls downward, each story is displayed in chronological orderbased on the date and time the story was actually created. Thus, thefurther downward the user scrolls, the older (i.e., created further inthe past) each displayed story is.

Stories may be sequenced in any desirable order. For example, in onecase, stories are sequenced based on the time-date stamp and storiesthat are more recent in time are fed before stories that are moredistant in time. In another case, stories are sequenced based on acurrent reported location of the computer device 12 a and stories thatare closer in proximity to the current reported location are fed beforestories that are further away from the current reported location. Instill other cases, stories are sequenced based on a particular type ofgoods or services, based on a topic of the subject matter of the feed,based on a dollar value, or based on some other reason.

Any particular story within the reading mode feed may be selected (e.g.,by a finger tap, click of a mouse, or the like), and further details ofthat story may then be displayed. For example, user comments related tothe story, user “likes” or “dislikes,” links to other associatedstories, or the like, may further be displayed when a user selects aparticular story from among the stories displayed in the reading mode.

Also shown in FIG. 2B are a plurality of other columns of story feeds.The feeds to the left of the Today 300 feed (i.e., The Today 300 feedincludes Story 1 c, Story 2 c, Story 3 c.) are earlier in time andsequenced by the user selected time period. The feed immediately to theleft of the Today 300 feed is the Yesterday 290 feed. In the Yesterday290 feed, only a single story 291 is called out to avoid unnecessarilycluttering the figure. To the left of the Yesterday 290 feed is theToday minus one day (Today−1) feed 280, which calls out only a singlestory 281 for simplicity. The feeds to the right of the Today 300 feedare later in time and sequenced by the user selected time period. Thefeeds to the right of the Today 300 feed include the Tomorrow feed 310and the Today plus one day (Today+1) feed 320, which also identify onlya single story 311, 321 for simplicity.

FIG. 3 includes FIGS. 3A to 3H. In FIGS. 3A-3H, a plurality of exemplaryuser interface 113 “screen shots” of a user's computer device 112 areillustrated according to embodiments described in the presentdisclosure. The user's computer device 112 is along the lines ofcomputer device 12 (FIG. 2) and computer devices 12 a-n (FIG. 1), andfurther discussion is not provided for brevity. The user interface 113is along the lines of user interface 13 (FIGS. 1 and 2), and furtherdiscussion is not provided for brevity. Like reference numbers andstructures in FIGS. 3A-3H are shown and not expressly called out in eachfigure to avoid unnecessarily cluttering the figure and therebyobscuring particular features of interest.

In FIG. 3A, a first user's computer device 112 is communicativelycoupled to fluid timeline social network software 22 that is arrangedorganize a time-based social network in a computing server architecture.The first user's computer device 112 is executing a local fluid timelinesocial network application 22. The user interface 113 is arranged todisplay a plurality of stories that are received at the computer device112 and arranged for horizontally and vertically scrollable presentationbased on a user-selected time period. The user-selected time period maybe an hour, a day, a month, a year, or some other time period. In FIG.3A, the time period is a day.

A first column of stories 130 represents Today, a second column ofstories 120 represents Yesterday, and a third column of stories 140represents Tomorrow. The plurality of stories have been generated byusers of the time-based social network, and each story has beenassociated with a user-specified time when the story was first posted.In some cases, the user-specified time may be edited by the originaluser, by a different user that has been authorized, or by the fluidtimeline social network software 22. The user-specified time may be auser-specified time of day, a user-specified date, or a user-specifiedtime and date.

Each story that has been received by the fluid timeline social networksoftware 22 has been assigned a different system-wide unique number. Thesystem-wide unique number permits massive storage of stories based onthe assigned system-wide unique number and indexing in one or moredatabases for fast storage and retrieval. In this way, storage andretrieval of stories can be in real time or near real time, which isperceived by a user to be very fast and nearly if not completelyinstantaneous. Each story may, for example, may be associated with aparticular user, a group of users, a time-date stamp, a user-specifiedtime, a geographic location, a user-specified topic, an automaticallygenerated system-determined topic, and many other things.

When a user operates a local fluid timeline social network application15 executing on computer device 112, the device is fed a plurality ofstories by the fluid timeline social network software 22. The pluralityof stories is arranged for presentation on the user interface 113 basedon a user-specified time period, and the fluid timeline social networksoftware 22 accepts input directions from computer device 112 based onthe user's interaction with the local fluid timeline social networkapplication 15. The user's the input directions are arranged to requestone or more sequenced stories, and each of the sequenced stories isassociated with the same selected time period.

In FIG. 3A, a columnized plurality of stories is presented for each ofYesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. The plurality of stories are sequencedin a particular order. The particular order has a default order, and theparticular order may be changed manually by the user or automatically bythe local fluid timeline social network application or fluid timelinesocial network software 22.

In FIG. 3A, stories in the Yesterday column 120 include stories 121-126.Other stories on other columns are not expressly identified for ease inunderstanding the drawing, though the principles of the columns arealong the lines of the Yesterday column 120.

Each story may further have a story information area 127. The storyinformation area may present ownership information (e.g., a useridentifier, an icon, a thumbnail photograph, etc.), and in addition orin the alternative, the story information area may present statusinformation regarding interaction by other users (e.g., “likes,”“votes,” number of comments, time of last comment, requests to connect,requests to pursue a transaction, etc.). The story information area 127is illustrated at the displayed bottom of a story, but in otherembodiments, the displayed information area 127 may be in any other oneor more areas associated with a particular story.

The particular order sequence of each columnized plurality of storiesmay, for example, be based on a context of what is being viewed by theuser. In some cases, the stories are sequenced based on the time-datestamp and stories that are more recent in time are fed before storiesthat are more distant in time. In some cases, the stories are sequencedbased on a current reported location of the first user remote computingdevice and stories that are closer in proximity to the current reportedlocation are fed before stories that are further away from the currentreported location. In some cases, the stories are sequenced based on thehow the social network is being used. For example, the social networkmay be being used to report social information and stories are sequencedbased on time or a date. The social network may be being used in acommercial context (e.g., to sell goods or services) and in this case,stories may be sequenced based on geographic location, price, categoryof goods or services, category of customer, or any other category. Ifthe social network is being used for connecting job seekers to availablejobs, the stories may be sequenced based type of job, job function,location, salary, qualifications, or any other employment relatedcategory. If the social network is being used to report on food, travel,entertainment, sports, government agency or service, academicinstitution or course of study, or some other broad genre, stories maybe sequenced in any desirable order.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3A, when a user scrolls left or right, entirecolumns of stories are arranged to scroll left or right. In this way, auser can scroll through time periods very quickly. In addition, via theuser interface, the user can enter a specific time period and thereby“time travel” to a column of stories associated with that time period,where the new column of stories is also surrounded by columns of otherstories in close proximity to the new time period.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3A, a central column of the user interface 113is a primary focus area of a display of computer device 112. The centralcolumn is illustrated as larger than surrounding or other columns inFIG. 3A, but in other embodiments, the primary focus area is not largerthan surrounding secondary focus areas, and the primary focus area isinstead emphasized in another way or even not emphasized at all. Thatis, the primary focus area in some cases is identified in a centralportion of the user interface 113, and the interaction by a user makesit evident to the user where the primary focus area is located.

In FIG. 3A, the plurality of stories are presented in columns based onthe user-selected date such that stories associated with theuser-selected date are vertically presented in a primary focus area of adisplay of the mobile computing device and stories not associated withthe user-selected date are vertically presented in one or more secondaryfocus areas of the display of the mobile computing device. When the userscrolls the primary focus area vertically, the local fluid timelinesocial network application 15 will accept the vertical scrollinginformation and pass to the fluid timeline social network software 22one or more corresponding requests for a sequence of stories; each storyof the sequence associated with the same selected time period. The fluidtimeline social network software 22 will retrieve sequenced stories froma database and communicate the sequenced stories to the computer device112, where they will be vertically presented in the primary focus area.Stated differently, the user may scroll the central column up, down, orup and down to display a sequence of stories.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3A, stories are presented based on a timeperiod of one day. For example, the central column in the primary focusarea represents stories associated with Today 130. A first secondaryfocus area to the left of the central column represents storiesassociated with Yesterday 120, and a second secondary focus area to theright of the central column represents stories associated with Tomorrow140. In other cases, each sequential time period (i.e., each sequentialcolumn of stories) represents a column of stories of a next sequentialweek, a next sequential month, a next sequential year, a next sequentialdecade, a next sequential century, a next sequential millennium, or thelike.

The user interface 113 includes a context information area 150. Thecontext information area may be used to deliver information, to acceptuser input, or to both deliver information and accept user inputassociated with the local fluid timeline social network application 15,the fluid timeline social network software 22, or both the local fluidtimeline social network application 15 and the fluid timeline socialnetwork software 22.

In one embodiment, the context information area 150 indicates thecontext of the user's access to the social network architecture. Thecontext information area 150 may, for example, indicate that the user isin a marketplace mode, a social network mode, a restaurant mode, atravel mode, a particular hobby mode, a sports mode, or any other suchmode. In one of these or in another embodiment, the context informationarea 150 includes an area where a user can change the user-selected timeperiod. The context information area 150 may be used for any one or moreother purposes of the time-based social network.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3B, the user interface is illustrated with aselection ring 152, a first input icon 154, a second input icon 156, anda third input icon 158. The graphics of the first, second, and thirdinput icons 152-156 may represent underlying actions that will be takenif a user selects the particular icon.

In one embodiment, for example, a first icon 154 represents anotifications feature. If the user selects the first icon, the userinterface 113 partially or wholly transitions into an interface wherethe user can view, respond to, or otherwise take action based on certainnotifications.

In an exemplary embodiment, the second icon 156 represents a profilefeature. When the profile feature is selected, the user interface 113partially or wholly transitions into an interface where the user canreview, edit, enter, delete, or otherwise manipulate profileinformation. A user can connect to network “friends,” disconnectfriends, and take other social networking actions.

In yet another exemplary embodiment, the third icon 158 represents aconversations feature. When the conversations feature is selected, theuser interface 113 partially or wholly transitions into an interfacewhere the user can communicatively converse with one other user, with agroup of users, or with all users of the social network. For example,the conversations feature may operate as a one-to-many chat feature, aone-to-group chat feature, or a broadcast chat feature.

In some cases, a user may be horizontally scrolling various time periodsand the user may be vertically scrolling a sequence of stories of aselected time period. If the user wants to comment on a particularstory, the user can select the third icon 158 and enter a conversationaluser interface. The user can comment by entering text, entering audio,entering visual data such as video or a still image, or entering someother information. The user can “chat” one-to-one with another user inreal time, or the user can chat with a group of users in real time as ina “chat room.” In still other cases, the user may simply post a commentor other multimedia input that is accessible to other users of thesocial network.

For simplification of the drawings and ease in understanding, FIG. 3Cillustrates the selection ring 152, the first icon 154, the second icon156, and the third icon 158 with some of the underlying stories removed.

In FIG. 3D, a user has selected the selection ring 152. The selectionmay be via a touch screen portion of the user interface 113, a mousepointer and associated selection action, a voice command, or some otherselection action. When the selection ring 152 is selected, a selectionring siren 160 is presented. The selection ring siren 160 may presentcontextual information associated with manipulation of the selectionring 152. The selection ring siren 160 may include visual information asin FIG. 3D. The selection ring siren 160 may also or alternativelyinclude audio information, tactile information, or any other informationarranged to capture the attention of the user.

Manipulation of the selection ring in FIG. 3D has also causedpresentation of a fourth icon 162, a fifth icon 164, and a sixth icon166. The fourth, fifth and sixth icons 162-166 may be presented as anyone or more of graphics, sounds, tactile indicators, or in some othermanner. The fourth, fifth and sixth icons 162-166 may be arranged toconvey particular information about one or more features associated withthe particular icon. In the embodiment of FIG. 3D, the fourth icon 162is associated with a time travel feature, the fifth icon 164 isassociated with a post-story feature, and the sixth icon is associatedwith a search feature.

In FIG. 3D, the selection ring 152 has been manipulated and positionedabove the fourth icon 162. The selection ring siren 160 indicates thatselection of the fourth icon 162 will permit the user to enter a timetravel feature interface.

In FIG. 3E, the selection ring 152 has been manipulated and positionedabove the fifth icon 164. The selection ring siren 160 indicates thatselection of the fifth icon 164 will permit the user to post a new storyto the time-based social network.

In FIG. 3F, the selection ring 152 has been manipulated and positionedabove the sixth icon 162. The selection ring siren 160 indicates thatselection of the sixth icon 162 will permit the user to enter a searchfeature interface.

FIG. 3G illustrates one embodiment of a time travel feature interface168. The time travel interface 168 includes a user-selected time periodentry interface 170, a month selector wheel 172, a day selector wheel174, and a year selector wheel 176. Via the time travel interface 168, auser is permitted to time travel their time-based social network. Forexample, in the central column of the user interface 113 (FIG. 3A, forexample), a sequence of stories associated with Today 130 is presentedin a primary focus area. Other stories in contemporaneous time periodsare vertically presented in columns shown in the secondary focus areas.A user may horizontally scroll to select a different user-selected timeperiod, or alternatively, the user may enter a time travel featureinterface 168. Using the time travel feature, the local fluid timelinesocial network application 15 is arranged to generate and communicateinput directions to change the selected time period to a differentselected time period.

In the time travel feature interface 168 of FIG. 3G, the user mayinnovatively manipulate vertical scroll wheels or some other type ofinterface in a different embodiment. The vertical scroll wheelsimplemented via the illustrated month selector wheel 172, day selectorwheel 174, and year selector wheel 176 have been found to be veryeffective. For example, while a user is scrolling any of the selectorwheels 172-176, information may be passed from the local fluid timelinesocial network application 15 to the fluid timeline social networksoftware 22. The fluid timeline social network software 22 is arrangedto use this preliminary information to being identifying and buildingqueries to pre-look up a sequence of stories. In this way, the usergains a first benefit of quickly, intuitively, and efficiently travelingin time to create a new user-selected time period. Also in this way, theuser gains a second benefit of making a selection (e.g., accepting thetime information in the user-selected time period interface 170) andhaving the user interface 113 quickly transition to columns of storiesassociated with the newly selected time period. The transition andpopulation of new stories is arranged to occur in real time, and to theuser, the presentation of new stories is very quick and may in somecases appear instantaneous.

In FIG. 3H, the user has just previously manipulated the selection ring152 to position it above the fifth icon 164 (FIG. 3E). The selectionring siren 160 indicated that selection of the fifth icon 164 willpermit the user to post a new story to the time-based social network,and the user has entered the post feature interface.

In the post feature interface of FIG. 3H, a multimedia function of thecomputer device 112 has been instantiated. In FIG. 3H, the multimediafunction is a camera, but in other cases, the multimedia function mayinclude any one or more of camera input, audio input, tactile input,physiological data (e.g., brain waves, emotional data, biologicalmaterial sampling data (e.g., urine, saliva, phlegm, etc.), range ofmotion data, etc.) input, or the like.

The post feature interface of FIG. 3H illustrates a seventh icon 180, aneighth icon 182, and a ninth icon 184. The seventh, eighth and ninthicons 180-184 may be presented as any one or more of graphics, sounds,tactile indicators, or in some other manner. The seventh, eighth andninth icons 180-184 may be arranged to convey particular informationabout one or more features associated with the particular icon. In theembodiment of FIG. 3H, the seventh icon 180 is associated with a featureto access locally stored multimedia, the sixth icon 182 is associatedwith a feature to accept new multimedia input (e.g., snap a picture,record audio/video, capture a motion, etc.), and the ninth icon isassociated with another user input interface such as to enter text, forexample.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3H, a user may enter the post featureinterface, snap a quick photograph using the eighth icon 182, andimmediately post the newly captured multimedia to the time-based socialnetwork. In addition, or in the alternative, the user may select theseventh icon 180 and select previously captured multimedia, which canalso be quickly posted to the time-based social network. Further inaddition or in alterative, the user may select the ninth icon 184 andenter text or other multimedia input that is automatically associatedwith multimedia content that will be posted as a new story. For example,the user may take a picture via cooperative use of the eight icon 182,and then immediately identify the picture with descriptive text orprovide some other input or comment via cooperative use of the ninthicon 184. The additional input collected by the computer device 112 maybe arranged by the fluid timeline social network software 22 forpresentation in the story information area 127 of FIG. 3A.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a fluid timeline social networksystem 10A. In the system 10A, a client side application executing on acomputing device 112 is permitted to post content to differenttime-based social network feeds. In FIG. 4, four particular feeds areillustrated (i.e., a Social feed, a Marketplace feed, a Food feed, andan Additional feed. The Additional feed may include any other particularcontextual feed described in the present disclosure or otherwisecontemplated in the time-based social network organizationalarchitecture.

A super structure 114 is implemented to manage the plurality ofindividual feed subsystems. The super structure 114 manages traffic ofthe various feeds. Management of the feeds includes separating feedspecific information and sharing overlapping feed information. Forexample, in some cases, story posts belonging to different feeds willshare attributes such as a user identifier, a timestamp or created date,and the like. In some cases, story posts belonging to different feedswill have specific attributes such as story posts to a Marketplace feedhaving a “price” attribute. In some cases, the super structure 114 isimplemented as a server-side web application framework that utilizesparticular database structures, web service structures, and web pagestructures. In one case, the super structure 114 is implemented with asingle RUBY ON RAILS server having a plurality of workers, services, andmultiple instances.

The super structure 114 will also manage other aspects of story postingand retrieval. Posting flow, for example, will differ from one feed toanother. For instance, Marketplace may be arranged to only allow“public” or group posts, and Social may be arranged to configurablyallow “public” posts, “friends only” posts, “only me” private posts, andthe like.

In some cases, posts to various feeds conform to a JAVA SCRIPT OBJECTNOTATION (JSON) format. In these cases, the super structure is arrangedto distinguish between the JSON structure of posts belonging to Socialfeed and the JSON structure of posts belonging to the Marketplace feed,and so on.

In the super structure 114, application programming interface (API)requests are separated from the very beginning. Each feed managed by thesuper structure 114 has arranged therefore at least one and in somecases many endpoints for story creation (i.e., posting stories), andmultiple endpoints to provide data to different feeds (i.e., get orotherwise retrieve stories). In this way, the super structure 114 has atleast separate endpoints both for stories creation (i.e., post) andstories retrieval (i.e., get).

Further, by separating the virtual communication paths of each feed, thesuper structure 114 architecture avoids storing a “type” field thatidentifies whether a story belongs to one feed or another. On each POSTrequest, the super structure 114 automatically knows where to store thestory based on the request path. And on the GET response, the superstructure 114 cooperates with the local fluid timeline social networkapplication 15 to knows where the client side will feed a set ofstories. Along these lines, each feed supports POST, PUT, DELETE, andGET operations.

In the system 10A, the super structure 114 implements a particular datapersistence policy. The super structure 114 stores stories for differentfeeds into separate database tables, with accessor tables designedspecifically to each one of them based on the use cases. The providedAPI endpoints support the POST, PUT, DELETE, and GET operations of eachdifferent feed. In this way, the time-based social network isarchitected with a specific organization that permits fast, easy, andintuitive extensibility. No other known social network architectures areorganized in this manner. When specific commercial, social, educational,governmental, charitable, or other circumstances arise to create newfeeds or to delete unused feeds, the super structure 114 can be easilyadapted. What's more, the architecture of the fluid timeline socialnetwork software 22 allows for easy up-scaling, easy down-scaling, andtraffic load balancing of computing hardware resources.

The super structure 114 includes a plurality of a API endpoints for eachfeed post operation. The various endpoints may are illustrated seriallyfor understanding of the structure, but individual instances operate inparallel for scalability.

A database server architecture 120 works in cooperation with the superstructure 114. The database server architecture 120 may include orotherwise have communicative access to the story database 32, imagedatabase 34, marketplace database 36, and additional database 38 (FIG.1). A plurality of accessors 1-n cooperate with a plurality ofassociated feature and attribute modules 118 a-n to properly store andretrieve stories in the appropriate database structures.

FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment of a fluid timeline social networksystem 10B. In the system 10B, a plurality of accessors and servicescooperate in individual feeds of a second super structure 114 bembodiment that is communicatively coupled to a second database serverarchitecture 116 b.

In the system 10B, each feed is organized as a virtual pipe havingdedicated services for past stories, present stories, and futurestories. In addition, each feed virtual pipe has dedicated services fortime-based POST operations and time-based GET operations. In someembodiments having such specifically targeted services, the time travelfeature (FIG. 3G) is arranged to perform pre-lookup database proceduresthat increase the speed of posting stories and retrieving stories.

FIG. 6 illustrates yet one more embodiment of a fluid timeline socialnetwork system 10C. The system 10C is arranged to include a plurality ofengine modules including a horizontal scrolling engine 202, a verticalscrolling engine 204, a time-based posting engine 206, and a time-basedfetching engine 208. The scrolling, posting, and fetching engines areassociated and cooperative with a grouping engine 210. The system 10C isalso arranged to include a screen transformation engine 212, a selectionring engine 214, a time-based chat engine 216, a timeline engine 218, avirtual escrow engine 220, and a handshake engine 222. Several socialnetwork services are provided in another module 224. The social networkservices include a standard search function, a login engine, a securitymodule, a “friends” module, a friend networks module, a standard privatemodule, a standard public chat module, a data compression module, a dataconversion module, and a ratings/comments module. Other social networkservices are omitted for brevity.

The horizontal and vertical scrolling engines 202, 204 are arranged foran infinite flow architecture. That is, when a limiting boundary isreached, rather than stopping scrolling, the horizontal and verticalscrolling engines 202, 204 begin again at a terminal point as if thetimeline “rolled over.” In one example, a story may have severalmultimedia images. When a user enters the story to view or otherwiseconsume the content, the user may horizontally scroll through thecontent, which can be displayed based on time, proximity or in anotherway. When the scrolling approaches the “last” image, the scrollingengine automatically rolls the view over to re-start at the first image.

The grouping engine 210 is arranged to facilitate user-selection of atime period. For example, a user may want to view stories by day, byweek, by month, etc. The grouping engine 210 facilitates the groupingsuch that a selected time period “group” will seamlessly operate withthe horizontal and vertical scrolling engines 202, 204.

The screen transformation engine 212 is arranged to smoothly transitionone screen to another screen of presented multimedia content. Theappearance on a display is such that one new image gently moves andtransforms into an existing image.

The selection ring engine 214 controls the selection ring that ispresented via a user interface. The selection ring engine 214 mayoperate to illuminate hidden icons, shade primary content into abackground, and the like. The selection ring engine 214 permits most orall operations of the fluid timeline social network to be operated on asmartphone with one hand, and in particular, with one thumb. That is,the selection ring is positioned on a display such that it may bedragged, dropped, tapped, or otherwise manipulated to generate stories,post stories, scroll, edit user parameters, and the like.

The time-based chat engine 216 facilitates chat features based on auser's timeline. Chat features may be one-to-one, one-to-many, orone-to-all in some embodiments.

A timeline engine 218 is arranged to deliver stories in a sequenceselected by a user. In some cases, a sequence of stories is presentedbased on time such that the most recently posted stories are presentedfirst, and stories posted longer ago are not posted first. In othercases, the timeline engine 218 sequences stories based on geographiclocation relative to the current location of the mobile device or someother user-selected location. In still other cases, the timeline engine218 permits the fluid timeline social network software 22 to determine asequence for the presentation of stories.

A virtual escrow engine 220 and a handshake engine 222 facilitatecommercialization opportunities of a time-based social network. Forexample, selected feeds of the time-based social network may be used tobuy and sell merchandise or services between individual users or otherentities. In these cases, the virtual escrow engine 220 may permit eachparty to a transaction to upload the item of value or a representationof the item of value. The item of value may be money, a barcode to aconcert ticket, a representation of a title to goods, or any other suchrepresentation. The virtual escrow engine 220 may then generate uniquecomputer readable codes (e.g., bar codes, QR codes, or the like).Subsequently, when the parties meet to consummate the transaction, thevirtual handshake engine 222 is employed to let each party scan theother parties generated code. When both parties have scanned theirrespective codes, the items of value are exchanged or otherwisereleased. Alternatively, if either party does not pursue consummation ofthe transaction, then each party's item of value is returned to itsoriginal owner.

FIG. 7 illustrates a method to organize a time-based social network in acomputing server architecture 700. The computing server architecture hasprocessor cores arranged to execute instructions stored in an associatedmemory, and the instructions are directed by requests received from aplurality of remote computing devices.

At 704, a plurality of stories are generated by users of the time-basedsocial network. Each story is associated with a user-specified date. At706, a different system-wide unique number is assigned to each of thereceived plurality of stories. Processing passes to 708 wherein each ofthe received plurality of stories is stored in memory and, based on itsassigned system-wide unique number, each of the received plurality ofstories is associated with a user, a time-date stamp, and theuser-specified date.

At module 710, a plurality of stories are fed to a first user remotecomputing device. The plurality of stories are arranged for presentationbased on the user-specified date. At 712, input directions are acceptedfrom the first user remote computing device. The input directions arearranged to request one or more sequenced stories, each of the one ormore sequenced stories associated with a same selected date. The inputdirections are further arranged to change the selected date to adifferent selected date.

At 714, optional processing is performed. In some cases, each of thereceived plurality of stories is stored in memory and further associatedwith a geographic location. In some cases, each of the receivedplurality of stories is stored in memory and further associated with auser-specified topic. In some cases, each of the received plurality ofstories is stored in memory and further associated with asystem-determined topic. In some cases, the sequenced stories aresequenced based on the time-date stamp and stories that are more recentin time are fed before stories that are more distant in time. In somecases, the sequenced stories are sequenced based on a current reportedlocation of the first user remote computing device and stories that arecloser in proximity to the current reported location are fed beforestories that are further away from the current reported location.

Processing of the method to organize a time-based social network in acomputing server architecture may end at 716. In some cases, processingbegins again at 702 or 704. In some cases, processing of the method toorganize a time-based social network in a computing server architecturedoes not end.

FIG. 8 illustrates a method to interact with a time-based social networkthat is arranged to operate in a computing server architecture using amobile computing device 800. The mobile computing device has at leastone processor arranged to execute instructions stored in anon-transitory computer readable media associated with the at least oneprocessor.

Processing begins at 802.

At 804, a communicative relationship is formed with a computing serverarchitecture. The computing server architecture is arranged to access adatabase architecture that stores a plurality of stories generated byusers of the time-based social network. Each story of the plurality ofstories is associated with a user-specified date. At 806, auser-selected date is communicated to the computing server architecture,and at 808, the mobile computing device receives a plurality of stories.The plurality of stories is arranged for horizontally and verticallyscrollable presentation based on the user-selected date.

Optional processing is performed at module 810. In some cases, theplurality of stories is presented based on the user-selected date suchthat stories associated with the user-selected date are verticallypresented in a primary focus area of a display of the mobile computingdevice and stories not associated with the user-selected date arevertically presented in one or more secondary focus areas of the displayof the mobile computing device. In some cases, vertical scrollinginformation is accepted, and the vertical scrolling information isarranged to request a first sequence of stories. Here, each story of thefirst sequence is associated with a same selected date, and receivedstories of the first sequence are vertically presented in the primaryfocus area of the display of the mobile computing device.

In some cases of the optional processing at 810, horizontal scrollinginformation is accepted. The horizontal scrolling information isarranged to request one or more second sequences of stories. The one ormore second sequences is associated with sequentially incrementing datesor sequentially decrementing dates. In this case, a plurality ofvertically arranged columns of stories is horizontally presented on thedisplay of the mobile computing device. Each of the vertically arrangedcolumns is associated with a next sequential date. In some of thesecases, the sequentially incrementing dates are sequentially incrementingby month or by year such that each sequential vertically arranged columnincludes stories of a next sequential month or a next sequential year,respectively.

In still some other cases of the optional processing at 810, theplurality of stories are presented in the primary focus area as a firstvertical column in a central column of the display of the mobilecomputing device. Here, a left secondary focus area is a second verticalcolumn arranged on a first side of the first vertical column and a rightsecondary focus area is a third vertical column arranged on a secondside of the first vertical column. The second side is opposite the firstside.

Processing of the method to interact with a time-based social networkthat is arranged to operate in a computing server architecture using amobile computing device may end at 816. In some cases, processing beginsagain at 802 or 804. In some cases, processing of the method to interactwith a time-based social network that is arranged to operate in acomputing server architecture using a mobile computing device does notend.

As used in the present disclosure, the term “module” refers to anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, aprocessor and a memory operative to execute one or more software orfirmware programs, combinational logic circuitry, or other suitablecomponents (hardware, software, or hardware and software) that providethe functionality described with respect to the module.

A processing core, or a processor (i.e., a processing unit), as used inthe present disclosure, refers to one or more processing unitsindividually, shared, or in a group, having one or more execution units,and such processing cores and processors include central processingunits (CPUs), digital signal processors (DSPs), microprocessors, microcontrollers, state machines, and the like that execute instructions.

In the present disclosure, memory may be used in one configuration oranother. The memory may be configured to store data. In the alternativeor in addition, the memory may be a non-transitory computer readablemedium (CRM) wherein the CRM is configured to store instructionsexecutable by a processor. The instructions may be stored individuallyor as groups of instructions in files. The files may include functions,services, libraries, and the like. The files may include one or morecomputer programs or may be part of a larger computer program.Alternatively or in addition, each file may include data or othercomputational support material useful to carry out the computingfunctions of the systems, methods, and apparatus described in thepresent disclosure.

As known by one skilled in the art, a computing device such as computingserver 20 (FIG. 1) has one or more memories, and each memory comprisesany combination of transitory and non-transitory, volatile andnon-volatile computer-readable media for reading and writing. Volatilecomputer-readable media includes, for example, random access memory(RAM). Non-volatile computer-readable media includes, for example, readonly memory (ROM), magnetic media such as a hard-disk, an optical diskdrive, a flash memory device, a CD-ROM, and/or the like. In some cases,a particular memory is separated virtually or physically into separateareas, such as a first memory, a second memory, a third memory, etc. Inthese cases, it is understood that the different divisions of memory maybe in different devices or embodied in a single memory. Some or all ofthe stored contents of a memory may include software instructionsexecutable by a processing device to carry out one or more particularacts.

A computing device such as computing server 20 (FIG. 1) and computerdevices 12, 12 a-n, 112 may further include operative software found ina conventional computing devices such as an operating system, softwaredrivers to direct operations through input/output (I/O) circuitry,networking circuitry, and other peripheral component circuitry. Inaddition, a computing server may include operative application softwaresuch as network software for communicating with other computing devices,database software for building and maintaining databases, and taskmanagement software for distributing the communication and/oroperational workload amongst various processing units. These computingdevices further include fluid timeline social network software and alocal fluid timeline social network application, respectively. When soarranged as described herein with the particular software thatimplements some or all of the time-based social network describedherein, each computing device is transformed from a generic andunspecific computing device to a tangible, non-abstract combinationdevice comprising hardware and software configured for a specific andparticular purpose.

Certain figures presented herein are flowcharts illustrating processesthat may be used by embodiments of the local fluid timeline socialnetwork application 15 and the fluid timeline social network software22. In this regard, each described process may represent a module,segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executableinstructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). Itshould also be noted that in some implementations, the functions notedin the process may occur in a different order, may include additionalfunctions, may occur concurrently, and/or may be omitted.

In some cases, computing devices embodied herein are a single hardwaremachine having the hardware and software listed herein, and in othercases, the computing devices are a networked collection of hardware andsoftware machines working together in a server farm to execute thefunctions of the time-based social network. The conventional hardwareand software is not shown in the present figures for simplicity.

In some cases, computing server 20 is a production computing server. Theproduction computing server 20 is deployed in a real world environmentto communicate website pages over the Internet. The computing server 20can read and write data from associated databases 32, 34, 36, 38 asdirected by the program code of the fluid timeline social networksoftware 22 and the operations directed by a user of a computer device12, 12 a-n, 112.

Figures herein illustrate software components loaded into memory of acomputing device. Each software component may include one or morecomputer programs or may be part of a larger computer program.Alternatively or in addition, each software component may include dataor other computational support material for the fluid timeline socialnetwork software 22 or the local fluid timeline social networkapplication 15.

Memory of the computing devices may store an operating system. Theoperating system typically provides program and device managementservices for the computing device. Examples of operating systems includeany one or more of various versions of LINUX, MICROSOFT WINDOWS, UNIX,and others.

Memory may store web page management and administration tools. Forexample, memory may optionally store one or more web server modules,database server interface modules, script processor modules, and webbrowser modules. Examples of web server modules include APACHE,MICROSOFT INTERNET INFORMATION SERVICES (IIS), NGINX, and GOOGLE WEBSERVER (GWS). Web servers typically deliver web pages to client devices.Often, the requests are made using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP),and the web pages are delivered as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)documents or JAVA SCRIPT documents along with any additional contentthat is called out by the document (e.g., images, style sheets, scripts,functions, and the like).

Examples of database server interface modules include ORACLE/SUNMICROSYSTEM MYSQL, MICROSOFT SQL SERVER, and APACHE DERBY. A databaseserver interface module typically implements a structured query language(SQL) that performs input and output functions on a relational database.In some cases, a database server interface module implements a datastorage repository (e.g., a relational database) in the same hardwarethat implements the database server (e.g., story database 32, imagedatabase 34, marketplace database 36, additional database 38), and inother cases, the repository is distributed between several differentmachines. In some cases, the data repository is implemented in a singledatabase computing server.

A script processor is a computing module that interprets and executesinstructions of a scripting language. PHP is one example of a scriptinglanguage. MICROSOFT ACTIVE SERVER PAGES (ASP) is another example. Insome cases, the scripting language is embedded into the HTML source codeof a web page, and interpreted by the script processor module.

Web browser examples include MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER, GOOGLE CHROME,MOZILLA FIREFOX, and APPLE SAFARI.

The terms, “real-time” or “real time,” as used herein and in the claimsthat follow, are not intended to expressly imply instantaneousprocessing, transmission, reception, or otherwise as the case may be.Instead, the terms, “real-time” and “real time” imply that the activityoccurs over an acceptably short period of time (e.g., over a period ofmicroseconds or milliseconds), and that the activity may be performed onan ongoing basis (e.g., identification and retrieval of story data beingtriggered during the middle of a user-selected time period operation(FIG. 3G)). An example of an activity that is not real-time is one thatoccurs over an extended period of time (e.g., hours or days) or thatoccurs only after intervention or direction by a person or otheractivity.

In the foregoing description, certain specific details are set forth toprovide a thorough understanding of various disclosed embodiments.However, one skilled in the relevant art will recognize that embodimentsmay be practiced without one or more of these specific details, or withother methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances,well-known structures associated with electronic and computing systemsincluding client and server computing systems, as well as networks havenot been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuringdescriptions of the embodiments.

Unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the specification andclaims which follow, the word “comprise” and variations thereof, suchas, “comprises” and “comprising” are to be construed in an open,inclusive sense, e.g., “including, but not limited to.”

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” and variations thereof means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentis included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of thephrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various placesthroughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, orcharacteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments.

As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singularforms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the contentand context clearly dictates otherwise. It should also be noted that theconjunctive terms, “and” and “or” are generally employed in the broadestsense to include “and/or” unless the content and context clearlydictates inclusivity or exclusivity as the case may be. In addition, thecomposition of “and” and “or” when recited herein as “and/or” isintended to encompass an embodiment that includes all of the associateditems or ideas and one or more other alternative embodiments thatinclude fewer than all of the associated items or ideas.

The headings and Abstract of the Disclosure provided herein are forconvenience only and do not limit or interpret the scope or meaning ofthe embodiments.

The present invention may be understood more readily by reference to thedisclosed detailed description of the preferred embodiments of theinvention. It is to be understood that the terminology used herein isfor the purpose of describing specific embodiments only and is notintended to be limiting. It is further to be understood that unlessspecifically defined herein, the terminology used herein is to be givenits traditional meaning as known in the relevant art.

As may be appreciated by persons having ordinary skill in the art,aspects of the various embodiments described above can be combined toprovide further embodiments. These and other changes can be made to theembodiments in light of the above-detailed description. In general, inthe following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limitthe claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specificationand the claims, but should be construed to include all possibleembodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which suchclaims are entitled. Accordingly, the claims are not limited by thedisclosure.

The various embodiments described above can be combined to providefurther embodiments. All of the U.S. patents, U.S. patent applicationpublications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patentapplications and non-patent publications referred to in thisspecification and/or listed in the Application Data Sheet, including butnot limited to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/334,318 filedMay 10, 2016, are incorporated herein by reference, in their entirety.Aspects of the embodiments can be modified, if necessary to employconcepts of the various patents, applications and publications toprovide yet further embodiments. These and other changes can be made tothe embodiments in light of the above-detailed description. In general,in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limitthe claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specificationand the claims, but should be construed to include all possibleembodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which suchclaims are entitled. Accordingly, the claims are not limited by thedisclosure.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising; presenting, by aprocessor of a computing device, a first graphical user interface;enabling, by the processor, a user to control presentation ofinformation within the first graphical user interface; presenting, bythe processor, a selection ring to the user in the first graphical userinterface without altering the presentation of information within thefirst graphical user interface; receiving, by the processor, a selectionof the selection ring by the user to enable the user to manipulate aposition of the selection ring within the first graphical userinterface; presenting, by the processor, a plurality of icons to theuser in the first graphical user interface in response to the selectionof the selection ring; receiving, by the processor, a user manipulationof positioning of the selection ring within the first graphical userinterface without altering the information being presented within thefirst graphical user interface and without altering a location of theplurality of icons in the first graphical user interface; receiving, bythe processor, a selection of an icon from the plurality of icons basedon a position of the selection ring in the first graphical userinterface relative to the icon in response to the user manipulation ofthe positioning of the selection ring; and presenting, by the processor,a second graphical user interface to the user based on the selectedicon.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of icons werepreviously hidden in the first graphical user interface prior toselection of the selection ring.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: presenting, by the processor, a selection siren to the userin the first graphical user interface based on the user manipulation. 4.The method of claim 3, wherein the selection siren includes informationregarding an icon associated with the position of the selection ring inthe first graphical user interface.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: presenting, by the processor, a second plurality of icons tothe user in the second graphical user interface based on manipulation ofthe selection ring.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:presenting, by the processor, a second plurality of icons to the user inthe second graphical user interface.
 7. The method of claim 6, furthercomprising: receiving, by the processor, a selection of an icon from thesecond plurality of icons based on a position of the selection ring inthe second graphical user interface.
 8. An interactive user interfacecontrol system, comprising: a display device; a memory that storescomputer instructions; and at least one processor that executes computerinstructions to: present, on the display device, a selection ring to auser in a first graphical user interface; prior to selection of theselection ring by the user, hide a plurality of icons from the firstgraphical user interface; receive a selection of the selection ring bythe user; in response to the selection of the selection ring by theuser: activate the selection ring to enable the user to manipulate aposition of the selection ring within the first graphical userinterface; and un-hide and present, on the display device, the pluralityof icons to the user in the first graphical user interface; while theselection ring is selected: receive a user manipulation that dragspositioning of the selection ring within the first graphical userinterface without altering a location of the plurality of icons withinthe first graphical user interface; and receive a selection of an iconfrom the plurality of icons based on a position of the selection ring inthe first graphical user interface relative to the icon in response tothe user manipulation; and transition the first graphical user interfaceinto a second graphical user interface in response to the selected icon.9. The interactive user interface control system of claim 8, wherein theat least one processor further executes the computer instructions to:present, on the display device, a selection siren to the user in thefirst graphical user interface based on the user manipulation.
 10. Theinteractive user interface control system of claim 9, wherein theselection siren includes information regarding an icon associated withthe position of the selection ring in the first graphical userinterface.
 11. The interactive user interface control system of claim 8,wherein the at least one processor further executes the computerinstructions to: present, on the display device, a second plurality oficons to the user in the second graphical user interface based onmanipulation of the selection ring.
 12. The interactive user interfacecontrol system of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor furtherexecutes the computer instructions to: receive a selection of an iconfrom the second plurality of icons based on a position of the selectionring in the second graphical user interface.
 13. A non-transitorycomputer readable medium that stores computer instructions that, whenexecuted by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor toperform operations, the operations comprising: displaying a firstgraphical user interface on a display device; displaying a plurality ofinformation within the first graphical user interface; enabling a userto control display of the plurality of information within the firstgraphical user interface; displaying a selection ring over the pluralityof information in the first graphical user interface without alteringthe underlying display of the plurality of information within the firstgraphical user interface; receiving a selection of the selection ring bythe user to enable the user to manipulate a position of the selectionring over the plurality of information within the first graphical userinterface; displaying, in response to selection of the selection ring, aplurality of icons over the plurality of information in the firstgraphical user interface without altering the underlying display of theplurality of information within the first graphical user interface,wherein the plurality of icons were previously hidden prior to selectionof the selection ring; receiving a user manipulation of positioning ofthe selection ring over the plurality of information within the firstgraphical user interface without altering the underlying display of theplurality of information within the first graphical user interface andwithout altering a location of the plurality of icons within the firstgraphical user interface; receiving a selection of an icon from theplurality of icons based on a position of the selection ring in thefirst graphical user interface relative to the icon in response to theuser manipulation of the positioning of the selection ring; anddisplaying a second graphical user interface to the user based on theselected icon.
 14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim13, wherein execution of the computer instructions by the at least oneprocessor, cause the at least one processor to perform furtheroperations, the further operations comprising: presenting a selectionsiren to the user in the first graphical user interface based on theuser manipulation.
 15. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 14, wherein the selection siren includes information regarding anicon associated with the position of the selection ring in the firstgraphical user interface.
 16. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 13, wherein execution of the computer instructions bythe at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to performfurther operations, the further operations comprising: presenting asecond plurality of icons to the user in the first graphical userinterface based on manipulation of the selection ring.
 17. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein executionof the computer instructions by the at least one processor, cause the atleast one processor to perform further operations, the furtheroperations comprising: presenting a second plurality of icons to theuser in the second graphical user interface.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the operations areperformed by an operating system.